In late June 2025, billionaire Jeff Bezos and media personality Lauren Sánchez celebrated their wedding in Venice, Italy, turning the historic city and its lagoon into a spotlight for the lives of the super-rich. For decades, Venice has been struggling with global mass tourism, which negatively impacts not only the physical and natural environments but also the social and cultural realms inhabited by those who still live and work in the city. The No Space for Bezos protests, which took place before and during the ceremony, are the latest chapter in a long history of resistance against powerful global forces that determine the future of Venice. This article explores how activism against global mass tourism, climate change, and wealth inequality converged in the No Space for Bezos protests, and in particular investigates how, by reclaiming Saint Mark’s Square — a space considered off-limits for political dissent — the activists temporarily challenged both discourses and practices that prioritize dominant spatial uses of the city as a space of consumption and value extraction, rather than as a lived space.

spatial politicsclimate activismwealthpolicingglobal mass tourism